Fishing-spoon.



W. A. L. MILLER.

`FISHING SPOON.

APPLIGATION FILED APB.. 11, 1910.

Patented Ja11.31,'1911.v

WITNESSBS OMWM/ r-s no., mrrgmo narran sans WILLIAM A. L. MILLER, OF SANFRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

FISHING-SPOON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 11, 1910.

Patented Jan. 31, 191i. Serial No. 554,855.

L/'o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM A. L. MiLLn'n, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fishing-Spoons,of which the following is a specification. l

My invention relates to improvements in spoons, such as are employed forfishing either by trolling or other means.

It consists in the combination of parts and details of constructionwhereby the hooks are retained in relative position to the spoon, andwhereby they are prevented from being displaced and put out of use bybecoming entangled.

Referring to the accompanying' drawi1igs,-the ordinary attachment offishing hooks with relation to the spoon is such that the hooks have anunlimited movement, and may be thrown over to the wrong side of thespoon, and they are also capable of being so far twisted upon theirsupporting link as to become entangled, and not in position for use.

It is the object of my invention to overcome these diliiculties.

A represents a spoon of any suitable or desired structure havingl at theupper end a loosely attached swivel link 2, one end of which is looselyconnected with one end of the spoon, and the other end is provided withmeans for the attachment of the line. From the attachment of this linkto the spoon an indestructible and suiiiciently flexible link or bar 3extends downwardly along the length of the spoon, and has at the lowerend a closed loop t with which the hooks 5 are loosely connected so thatthe hooks extend slightly below the opposite end of the spoon. Vith thisconnection there is nothing to prevent the hooks from being thrown awayfrom the spoon, and even thrown over from the concave to the convex sidethereof.

In my invention I form a loop or guard G which is iixed to the concaveside of the spoon, near the upper end, and the attachment of the link 3.This guard is suiiiciently long transversely and sutliciently open inits arch to allow a very considerable movement of the hook-connectinglink to either side,

and to a certain distance outwardly away from the spoon, but notsufficient to allow the hooks to be thrown over to the opposite side ofthe spoon. This device insures the hook-connecting link remaining inproper relation with the spoon, and limits the distance to which it maybe thrown directly outward therefrom as is well shown in Fig. l.

In order to prevent the hooks from being moved so far within the loop 4to which they are loosely suspended as to become entangled or locked outof position for use, I have shown stops fixed across or to the sides ofthe loop which will act to limit the movement of the shanks of the hookwith relation thereto. As shown in Fig. l this stop may consist of a bar17 extending transversely across the diameter of the loop 4i.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the stop formed by making a full turn on each ofthe sides of the loop, and these turns are suiiciently larger than theeye of the hook shank to prevent its passing upward beyond them. Thesestops are indicated at 7, and while the hooks ma yswing freely aroundthe lower part of the loop 4L, they cannot be thrown upwardly so far asto become entangled or putvout of use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Pat ont isl. The combination with a lishing spoon, of a swivelconnection with one end of the spoon, a link loosely connected with theswivel and having a loop with hooks loosely suspended therefrom, guardsor stops to limit the outward movements of the hooks about their pointsof suspension, and a guard loop upon the spoon to limit the movement ofthe link.

2. The combination with a fishing spoon, of a. swivel connection withone end of the spoon, a link loosely connected with the swivel, anarched guard iixed to the spoon through which the link passes, hooksloosely suspended from the link, and stops or guards upon the link tolimit the movements of the hooks.

3. The combination with a fishing spoon, a swivel connection between theline and one end of the spoon, a link extending therefrom along theeoncaved side, and having an open loop at the lower end, and hooks, theshanks of which are loosely connected with said loop, of a guard iXedtransversely` across the loop, and an arched guard extending across theooncaved surface of the spoon contiguous to the swivel Connection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWosubscribing Witnesses.

l/VILLAM A. L. MILLER. lVtnesses:

RAYMOND A. LEONARD, CHARLES EDELMAN.

